The Relevance of Taxonomies

September 30, 2010 – In this world of real-time search and response, one has to wonder if the traditional library information sources’ reliance on controlled vocabularies remains a viable, worthwhile, and cost-effective strategy. How important are they in this world of keyword search?

At the SLA 2010 Annual Conference, a panel discussion took on the pivotal question of “Does Taxonomy Matter in a New World of Search and Discovery?” One of the panelists wrote an article about the process and shares some insight in how the industry is evolving and addressing that question. This very interesting piece was found in Information Today and titled, “Does Taxonomy Matter in a New World of Search and Discovery?”

The panel discussion at SLA surfaced many important issues surrounding the value of taxonomies and ontologies. Each panelist had a slightly different take. But as the writer shares, the answer about whether taxonomies matter in this new world of search and discovery was a resounding yes.

Take a moment and read the article. It is worth the time investment. It also reminds us that building taxonomies that are solid and comprehensive takes professionals with experience in the industry. A company that can help you generate ANSI/ISO/W3C-compliant taxonomies. Access Innovations is one of a very small number of companies that can do that.

Melody K. Smith

Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in indexing and making content findable.